Team Fortress 2: Valve's "secret" guinea pig

Tek7@Work

Tek7@Work

CGA President, Tribe of Judah Founder & President
Title is from Gamasutra. Quote marks are mine.
In a recent interview with Gamasutra, Team Fortress 2 lead designer Robin Walker explained that while the game's primary goal has been to grow and maintain its sizeable audience, Valve has also used the title as a testbed for new ideas that could protect the livelihood of the entire company.

"Our secondary goal [with Team Fortress 2] was to see if we could explore specific game and business design spaces that we felt were potentially a requirement for the long-term survival of our company," Walker said.
Click to expand...
Source: Team Fortress 2: Valve's secret guinea pig

Text marked in bold for emphasis.

Just wishing Valve had picked a different game to use as a testbed. Maybe Counter-Strike: Source? A game that I didn't wait 12 years for? I game I wouldn't have minded seen saddled with a cash item shop and flooded with promo items meant to help sell other games?

/smh
 
I'm quite sure I read a long while back that someone (Walker or Gabe or someone big) at Valve made a similar comment that TF2 had become an experiment or testing ground.

...but yeah I wish TF2 retained just a little more respect from Valve. It's not all bad but the quality has gone down and sometimes I wish it had just died gracefully. I still have mixed feelings from back when it went free to play. F2P was kind of a turning point in my opinion. It meant more players but also...

1. A higher probability of cheaters (infinite replacement accounts on ban).
2. A higher probability of schlocky Valve money making schemes.

Even if TF2 is not pay to win like most free to play games it does rely on the other F2P pillar, gambling, to supplement it's income. I know all to well many games nowadays rely on compulsion not quality to keep players. Whether it's a stat/item grind, +stat elixirs that only have a % chance success or the lure of a pretty hat it's all the same. Are any of the rewards of these things worth the time/money required? Do people seriously buy into the false sense of accomplishment these things give? I guess so because we still have aimbotters who believe they are winning -_- .

Note: If you like to grind to zone out that is another subject entirely. I speak of the false sense of accomplishment that comes from merely being more patient or spending more money than the other guy. There is no skill in this.
 
Last edited:
It makes my sad, I wish TF2 was more like TFC. Instead they had to turn it into some kind of silly marketing test, why not CS:S or DoD? Nope they had to pick something great...and add hats.
 
I'm still waiting for some kind of community mod to rebalance and "reclaim" TF2. Something like TFTrue back in the days before Valve FINALLY added a server cvar to disable random crits, but more expansive.
 
It's funny to me. We run one of the most modded minecraft servers I've been on and I hate it but I like all the variety that TF2 offers. I still like it pure but I think the variety has made it a better game. I don't like trading in the Valve browser but I understand why they did it. Personally, I can't think of one thing they've done to TF2 that hasn't made it a better game. They've even manged to introduce microtransactions without destroying the game or turning it into a Pay-to-win game.

I have some issues with the game but that is within the classes themselves (scout's overpowerd, spy should not get 2 points per kill and sniper should have to fully charge for a one hit headshot kill). Everything they've added from hats to weapons to stranges does nothing more than allow people to tweak their style of play and customize their character.

And with the introduction of minipets, Tek, I thought you'd be much happier too.
 
Wolfeman said:
It's funny to me. We run one of the most modded minecraft servers I've been on and I hate it but I like all the variety that TF2 offers. I still like it pure but I think the variety has made it a better game. I don't like trading in the Valve browser but I understand why they did it. Personally, I can't think of one thing they've done to TF2 that hasn't made it a better game. They've even manged to introduce microtransactions without destroying the game or turning it into a Pay-to-win game.

I have some issues with the game but that is within the classes themselves (scout's overpowered, spy should not get 2 points per kill and sniper should have to fully charge for a one hit headshot kill). Everything they've added from hats to weapons to stranges does nothing more than allow people to tweak their style of play and customize their character.

And with the introduction of minipets, Tek, I thought you'd be much happier too.
Click to expand...

Let's see lets have a Scout equip a sun-on-a-stick, a dragon tattoo, a Flying Guillotine, a Lucky No. 42(the beach gear) and to top it off some pink Void Monk Hair. Feels like he is in the 1960s to me, not. Sure TF2 has always been a stylized and comical game but it used to feel like you were in a stylized and comical 1950s-1960s game. Plus the characters have loose but established personalities which have been overstretched. Even valve admits it on their item submission page...

Valve said:
Q: What are some guidelines for matching TF2's art style and improving the chances of my item getting in?

A: This is a tricky question we grapple with daily. When we started, the game followed an idealized 1950's-60's Americana look. Nothing too modern, hyper-realistic or overly cartoony. Clearly the art style has evolved over the years, but here are some guidelines that you should keep in mind as you create your items.
Click to expand...

It used to say they wouldn't take clown hats (well it actually said maybe if it was exceptionally made but you get the point).

I've long thought Valve should just make a game without established character personalities and themed to allow virtually any item. In particular you could use a cyberspace setting or some such explanation that any item/weapon is just a manifestation of your avatar. Cowboys to spacemen and any mix in between could be allowed without breaking the theme because the theme would be everything. Card games, anime and at least one F2P game I've found have implemented similar, but incomplete, ideas for ages (and yes as always I have a lot more ideas for such a game).

/me waits for Valve to make the game but not be done quite right...

EDIT: Of course any artistic fail pales compared to the crate gambling component. It sounds silly but it does hurt people.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top